The Legend of the Cerulean Lapis
by Marree
Summary: Tale 2: Shiho and Suo
1. Tale 1: Yumei

Legend of the Cerulean Lapis  
by Mariye  
  
---  
Disclaimer: I don't own the fable. I don't own the characters. I don't own Valkyrie Profile. Many of the lines of this first tale are taken from the actual game, and from the story of the Einherjar Yumei. The next couple tales I will make up as I go along though.  
Now that we've cleared all that up, lets start the story! o^-^o  
---  
  
  
When a Cerulean Lapis is in a young man's hand  
When two people have bared their souls  
And when two hearts become as one  
The Legend of the Cerulean Lapis begins again...  
  
  
Tale 1: Yumei  
  
Many years ago, the land of Hai-Lan was in turmoil. There was a terrible war between the humans and the merfolk that inhabited the waters around the city. Shogun Koh, the powerful human leader, fought hard against the invaders. Alas, one day the Shogun was at sea, when he fell off of his warship, and plunged into the depths.  
  
The people of Hai-Lan despaired for many years, mourning the death of their leader and war hero.  
  
Then, six years later, he appeared on the Hai-Lan shores. His family called him a changed man. The legendary war hero became a legendary peacemaker. He worked hard to form a lasting peace with merfolk that still endures today.  
  
Ten years have passed, and now our story begins...  
  
~~~  
  
"I hope this isn't a mistake..." whispered a young girl. She sat alone, out on a log in the middle of the ocean. She appeared perfectly normal, until she started flapping her tail fins. She turned her head again and looked at the ship sailing towards her.  
  
"HEEELP!"  
  
She paused and waited a while, looking still at the looming ship in front of her.  
  
"I hope that isn't a ghost ship only phantoms ride..." She whispered again.  
  
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" She screamed once more.  
  
On the ship a young man paused, while his father continued talking.  
  
"Fuyuki, it seems like the bollitos aren't around now..."  
  
"Father? Did you just hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?"  
  
"I thought I heard someone shouting..."  
  
"Someone way out here?"  
  
"HEEEEEEEEEELP!!!"  
  
Fuyuki's father dropped his net and ran toward the helm of the boat.  
  
"Fuyuki, you're right! There's a girl out there! Quickly, we have to try and steer towards her."  
  
Within a few moments the father and son had helped the young woman onto their ship. Fuyuki just stood on the side and watched as she started to come to life.  
  
"My dear, what are you doing all the way out here? Are you alright?" Fuyuki's father knelt down beside the girl.  
  
"I... I'm fine... My ship hit something and... and it sunk."  
  
"Were there any other survivors?"  
  
"No, I... I don't know what happened to the others."  
  
By this time the father had noticed Fuyuki's silence.   
  
"Are you alright son?"  
  
"Oh? Yes. I'm fine. What is your name miss?" Fuyuki extended his hand to the girl.  
  
"Yumei... it means dream." Yumei seemed to brighten a little and gain strength as she said her name.  
  
"Well Yumei, it is nice to meet you."  
  
"Thank you... and thank you for helping me..."  
  
The two stood. The father went towards the back of the ship.  
  
"I can tell we won't pull anything in today. Fuyuki, take up the nets. We'll head back. Yumei, is there anywhere we could possibly drop you off?"  
  
Yumei walked to the edge of the boat and stared off at the mainland, so far in the distance.  
  
"Is there any chance you could maybe leave me at Hai-Lan?"  
  
"You're in luck. Thats the port we're from. You have family there? Or someone waiting for you?"  
  
"Yes... in a way I do." Yumei smiled and turned back towards the father. "Can I ask you a question?"  
  
The father nodded and finished changing the ship's course. "Sure. Course I can't guarantee I can answer it for you."  
  
"Thats alright." Yumei sat on the edge of the ship's rail. "Have you ever heard of the lapis?"  
  
"You mean a lapis lazuli? Sure. I've seen some in caves around Hai-Lan." He absent-mindedly started picking through some spare nets.  
  
"No, I mean, the Cerulean Lapis. The one that can grant your fondest wish..." She said, bending over to help him gather up the nets and move them.  
  
"That? Oh thats just an old wives tale." He pointed to a corner of the ship and they dropped the nets over there. "Why, you on some kind of quest or something?"  
  
"No..." She slightly hung her head. "I was just curious..." She looked around them. "We seem to be moving quickly today."  
  
"Yeah, we have the wind on our side luckily." The father said, just as the ship suddenly jolted and shifted position.  
  
"What was that?" She asked, startled and slightly distressed.   
  
Fuyuki appeared from behind her. "That was just alerting us of a nearby oozuzo. Don't worry, the ship was just changing its course."  
  
"An oozuzo?" She looked at him puzzled.  
  
"Its a kind of giant whirpool. Don't worry, we're safe from it."   
  
The boat shifted again and she fell into Fuyuki's arms.  
  
"I'm sorry." She blushed and tried to resteady herself.  
  
"Its alright..." He said, smiling slightly. "You just haven't got your sea legs yet."  
  
"You can say that again." She gave a mysterious smile and stood again.  
  
The rest of the ride back was uneventful, and soon the found themselves at the docks.  
  
"You two head to two. Find a place at the inn for the night. I'll finish up here." Shouted the father as the young couple walked onto the wooden dock.   
  
"Thanks!" Fuyuki yelled back to them. He then turned to Yumei. "I heard what you asked earlier... about the lapis."  
  
"You did? You must think me foolish..." She said, slightly hanging her head.  
  
"No, I think my father foolish." He took her hand. "He has long since given up on hope and on believing in tales. I think, that as long as you believe in it, the Cerulean Lapis is real. If you believe, you can find it Yumei."  
  
"Thank you." She smiled. "I'll try and believe."  
  
"So what would you wish for? If you found it?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know." Yumei pulled away from him and walked a little ahead, then spun around. "What would you wish for Fuyuki?"  
  
"Me? I would wish for a great boat... The finest fishing boat in all of Hai-Lan!"  
  
"Really?" She looked a little disappointed and continued walking a little further.  
  
"Is something wrong?" He walked a little faster to match her pace.  
  
"No, its nothing. Can you show me where the inn is where we'll be staying?"  
  
"Sure. Its over this way."   
  
The two walked into a fairly large building, and as Fuyuki made the reservations, She stood looking out the window facing a beach.  
  
"I got our rooms."   
  
She jumped as he tapped her shoulder.  
  
"Sorry..."  
  
"Its okay... its just sometimes I get mesmerized when I watch the sea..." She smiled faintly then looked back out.  
  
The father walked in, and seemed a bit surprised to still see Yumei there.  
  
"Fuyuki, why don't you go and get some food for all of us..." He handed him a small portion of money, then went to stand by the girl.  
  
"Alright." Fuyuki took the money and ran out.  
  
"You asked us to bring us here, and said you had someone waiting..."  
  
It was then Fuyuki realised he hadn't asked what they would want, and he started to enter back into the room, but when he started to hear their conversation, he stopped.  
  
"Well, technically I do..." Yumei turned to the father. "I'm actually here looking for my father. His name is Koh..."  
  
The father was shocked and took a step back. "Surely... surely you don't mean Shogun Koh... Are you one of the children of his mistresses?"  
  
She looked at him in a mix of surprise and horror.   
  
"No, yes... I... why would you say such a thing."  
  
"It is just that Shogun Koh is dead. After making peace with the merfolk, he returned to a normal life, healthy and sound. But two years ago he contracted an illness and died. I just assumed any immediate family would have known..." The father moved forward to comfort the girl, but she only pulled back, and put on a stone face.  
  
"I see..."  
  
Fuyuki stepped back, feeling foolish.   
  
"She wanted the lapis so she could see her father..." He whispered slowly...  
  
The night passed in silence. Yumei stayed the entire time by the window, watching the seas lap at the shore. In the morning, after Fuyuki had wandered around town, he returned to still see her there.  
  
"I searched the whole town for any information about the lapis Yumei... if you'd like to know what I learned..."  
  
"What does it matter?" She turned to him with tears in her eyes. "He's dead now!"   
  
She pulled herself up and out the window, and took off running. He ran to the window after her.  
  
"YUMEI!"  
  
He dove out, trying to follow her. She had seemingly disappeared, but instantly he knew to run for the shore. When he arrived he saw a beautiful young mermaid, swimming in the shallow water, with small crystal-like tears running down her face.  
  
"Y... Yumei?" He stammered as he took in the situation.   
  
The hair was strikingly similar, although now it had a green metallic hue. Scales covered her arms and most of her body. But she still wore the same jeweled tiara.  
  
"Are you surprised? I'm not human..."  
  
"So you wanted the lapis so you could see your father... I'm sorry, I overheard it all last night..."  
  
"No... no that isn't it at all. I wanted the lapis, so I could make my father cry..."  
  
She turned her head, seemingly thinking of how to tell how, and why, she felt this way.  
  
"My... my mother died a short while ago. She did the unthinkable. She paired with a human. And so... when she died... I couldn't cry. If I did I'd receive the looks and glares from all of them."   
  
She looked up, and her strength seemed to fade.   
  
"But it wasn't just that. I couldn't smile when I was happy. I couldn't do anything. I was a halfling. Not one and not the other. When my mother died, my world died with her. So I wanted to come here, and use the lapis, so that maybe my father and I could cry together..."  
  
He started to wade into the water, to be close and comfort her, but she swam backwards away from him.  
  
"But now..." She started. "Now it isn't fair. They get to be together without me..." She shook her hair, now sobbing. A single tear hit the water which surrounded her.  
  
"But Yumei, you can still stay here. You can stay with me. You can cry and smile here..." He reached out his hand to her.   
  
She looked away in the distance, seemingly hearing something he could not.  
  
"Do you hear that? Its the oozuzo. You had better get inland, before it reached the shore." She said softly, as she dove into the water.  
  
"YUMEI!" Fuyuki moved deeper in after her, his hand still extended towards her.  
  
"Goodbye Fuyuki... thank you...."   
  
She swam off further, until he could no longer see her. He saw her head right for the whirpool ahead.  
  
"Yumei..." He whispered and looked down.  
  
Something small sparkled in the sand below.  
  
He reached his hand down, and pulled up the small jewel.  
  
"Its... its the Cerulean Lapis..." He whispered as he tightened his hand around it.  
  
"What will I wish for? That new boat?" He thought. "No..." He shook his head violently. "Then for Yumei's safety?"  
  
He stopped and paused.   
  
"But what would Yumei have wished for?" He thought as he opened his hand. He shut his eyes, forcing back tears.  
  
"LAPIS! GRANT MY HEART'S DESIRE!" He yelled into the air.  
  
"I.... I wish for Yumei to be with her family again..."   
  
A huge column of light surrounded him. And from above, the death goddess Valkyrie heard his call. She flew down, and headed into the ocean, towards the lifeless body of a mermaid many miles away, that was floating to the surface.  
  
"He loved her, so he wished for her death?" Valkyrie wondered as she took the girl's spirit into herself.   
  
"No matter. I do not know if this girl will prove worthy of Valhalla, but his request shall be granted."  
  
~~~  
  
The sea did not calm that day. And Fuyuki did not leave the shore. His desire had been granted, but there was no sign of this.  
  
So once again he decided to believe. He decided to believe that Yumei was happy.   
  
The end.  
  
The next tale... Shiho.  



	2. Tale 2: Shiho

Legend of the Cerulean Lapis  
by Mariye  
  
---  
Disclaimer: I don't own the fable. I don't own the characters. I don't own Valkyrie Profile.  
Some lines from here did appear in the game.   
Now that we've cleared all that up, lets start the story! o^-^o  
---  
  
  
When a Cerulean Lapis is in a young man's hand  
When two people have bared their souls  
And when two hearts become as one  
The Legend of the Cerulean Lapis begins again...  
  
  
Tale 2: Shiho  
  
It has often been a tradition in the Hai-Lan samurai army to have a song-maiden in their ranks. This is a young woman trained only to sing, and drive men to battle and to fury with her songs. The greatest, most honorable death a young samurai can die is one in battle.   
  
Song-maidens are trained in only one way, and are chosen when they are born. They are made to be sorceresses, but only given spells that can help others, and not be used offensively for themselves. Their one sole purpose in life is to drive others to fight.  
  
The truely powerful song-maidens survive many wars and battles... and drive many men to their deaths. Thus their lifes are plagued with ridicule and torment.  
  
Our story is about one particular song-maiden... who is a very prominent one...  
  
~~~  
  
"Its all your fault! You drove them to this! You don't deserve to live!"  
  
Shiho clasped the hands of the men on either side of her tighter. Usually she never left the military compound. In all of her 18 years she had never even been allowed to be alone outside. Of course, times like this made her glad of her constant escorts.  
  
"My son died because of you! Witch!"  
  
She hung her head lower as the two soldiers next to her led her to the temple altar in front of her. One of them, the man on her left, took her hands and placed them on the rope in front of her. She pulled down on it gently and heard the faint ringing of bells.  
  
"Please... please help me find some light..." She whispered under her breath.   
  
"Alright. You've said your prayer for the battle ahead of us. Now lets go." The same man who had helped her hand find the rope now pulled her back.  
  
She was sent to the temple before each battle to pray for the land's success. To pray for them to win. Little did they know the last time she honestly prayed for them was more than six years ago.  
  
She started to answer, to say 'alright, I'm ready to leave' when the other man grabbed her arm harshly and started pulling her off the temple grounds.  
  
"We've no time for dawdling Shiho." He said gruffly into her face, the smell of cheap beer over-whelming her. She was blind, not deaf.  
  
She allowed herself to be pulled out of the yard, and back into the street, where the crowd waited for her.  
  
"You never should have been born!" She heard the shout just as she felt something smash at her feet.   
  
"If these men cared for me, they would draw their swords... defend me..." She thought. Of course she knew it would never happen. She only felt them nudge her down the right path back to the compound.   
  
She tried to shut out the calls behind her. Let them think her deaf and dumb. Its only a pity she couldn't also pretend to be mute.  
  
~  
  
She found herself in her one sanctuary. The one place the general allowed her. A small rose garden. They had objected when she had requested it as a gift for her 16th birthday. Her one nurse-maid, Nazima, had fought for her one luxury.  
  
She still remembered standing by, watching as Nazima speak so rashly to the general.  
  
"Her 16th year is supposed to be celebrated. It is supposed to be a joyful event for a girl."  
  
"Her joy should come from the fact that she sings to bring us victory, and that alone." He stood firm in front of her.  
  
"You deny her any semblance of a normal life. You shut her away in a dark room. You make her fight for you. You keep her silent except when singing. She is treated as though she is a toy, but she is not a toy... she is a human being with feelings and emotions! You cannot change that! No matter what you may..."  
  
The general raised his hand and slapped her face, the force sending her to the ground. Shiho remembered standing in shock and falling to the ground at the sound.   
  
"Insolent wench!"  
  
"But you know I'm right! And you know that there is no way the gods will have mercy on your soul for what you have done to this girl!"  
  
There was a log silence after that.   
  
"You are dismissed Nazima. Take her with you..."  
  
"Shiho. Her name is Shiho."  
  
He paused, and Shiho remembered wondering if he would strike Nazima again.  
  
"Take Shiho and leave."  
  
Two days later Nazima was gone and the garden was there.  
  
"It was a trade of one joy for another" She thought as she pulled a rose to her face to smell it.  
  
She still missed Nazima. The one person who had ever cared for her. But at least she had one sanctuary now.  
  
She heard the footsteps behind her before the announcement of their arrival. She heard the metallic noises hitting the stone pathway.  
  
"Why now? Why couldn't it have simply been another voice instructor? Another noble come to hear me sing?" She thought, as she already began to rise.  
  
"Its time. Come."  
  
She took the hand offered to her and was lead to the stand...  
  
"Listen!! The melodious throbbing of life's sacred rhythms!" She threw back her shoulders and proclaimed, as she started to sing.  
  
The battle waged for thirty minutes before Shiho began to even tire. She could tell from the screams of torment on the field around her that this was a terrible fight, and would have been a horror to behold.  
  
"What a gift in disguise." She thought bitterly as she sang on.  
  
She sang of the victories of the Hai-Lan army. Of the strong men. Of the women who loved them. Of the emperor and gods for which they fought.  
  
She stopped for a moment.  
  
The guard that stood next to her gave her that moment, thinking she was going to cast a support spell to aid them all in their cause.  
  
"What about myself?" She thought. "I sing of every aspect of the wars. But what of myself? What of the songmaidens? The sorceresses who compel the men to fight?"   
  
She could hear the voices of the people who mocked her in the back of her head.  
  
"Delivering men to their deaths!"  
  
"Cursed Siren!"  
  
"It is evil you spawn!"  
  
"What about myself?" She whispered... almost saying it loudly enough so that others around her could hear it.  
  
"SING!"   
  
She felt the guard's glove collide with her face as the words were spoken. She could sense the tension now growing around her. The alarmed enemy samurai near her, stopping in alarm that a song-maiden would stop singing.  
  
"I said to SING! SING WOMAN!"  
  
Shiho tried to speak, to cry out, but she felt the sharp tip of a sword at her throat. The screams of all the men falling around her deafened her.   
  
"I... I... can't..."  
  
"How DARE you!"  
  
She saw him raise his arm and sword and clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the blade to fall.  
  
"It is just a release... I welcome this... but why can I not feel the sword at my skin?" She thought as she pressed herself against the platform. She heard a man's scream, and felt the platform shake as dead weight dropped next to her.  
  
"Stand up. Its alright. Are you okay?" A strange man was saying. She opened her eyes and rose up on one arm. "I... don't understand. Why did you stop singing?"  
  
"... Red... What does red look like?"  
  
"Wha?"  
  
She heard the man step back, and assumed he hadn't realised she was blind.  
  
"Then you can't see?"  
  
"From birth, I have been desitined for life as a song-maiden. The gods gave me no light, though. Perhaps they grew tired of giving it. Yet, is my desiring it such a terrible thing?" She whispered. She doubted he heard over the noise of battle.  
  
"If you gave up singing... what would you desire?" Suo asked as he knelt next to her.  
  
"Death."  
  
He rose and pulled his sword. He began to raise it, but his arm began to shake... He put his sword down and away.  
  
"My name is Suo..."  
  
He offered her his hand and helped her up.  
  
~  
  
The two walked through the forest to the enemy samurai camp. Along the way Suo talked, and Shiho mainly listened, as she always had before. Occasionally she told a little of her self, but mainly she kept her silence, and preferred to here his life story and thoughts.  
  
"We're approaching my captain. Just stay at my side..." Suo moved in front of her, and she heard the clattering of metal armor as he bowed to his commanding officer. "Sir, we have captured the enemy songmaiden."  
  
"Excellent... let's see..." She heard a man walk towards her, and felt a hand grab her face, under her chin. He forced her to look up. "Quite beautiful... Yes, but..."  
  
She didn't even feel the blade as it ripped across her throat. She fell softly to the ground.  
  
"S... uo..." She faintly cried as her eyes closed.  
  
"Why?!?! Even her companions abandoned her fighting spirit and all that?!?!." Suo grabbed the hilt of his sword and directed his rage at the officer.  
  
"Suo. Have her charms enchanted you, then? That woman has led many of your compatriots to their deaths!"  
  
"But!"  
  
"Have you gone soft Suo?" The commander shot him a dirty look.  
  
"No... no... Forgive my outburst..." He bowed and walked in the opposite direction, back to the small lagoon near their camp. He took his helmet off and threw it onto the ground and walked up to the beach. Slowly he knelt by the shore and dipped his hands in the water.  
  
"This is wrong... I am supposed to protect... to help save... she has been through so much... I couldn't help her..." He whispered as he placed his hands in the water. "How can I ever atone... for all I have done..."  
  
A small glimmering object caught his eye in the water. He reached his hand in, and pulled out a small, blue sphere.  
  
" A gem... of some sort?" He asked as he held it up to the light. It sparkled brilliantly, as though it gave off its own glow. "Could this be... no... that is just a story..." He clenched it in his fist. "Even so though... maybe this could be... maybe I could start to atone with this..."  
  
He rose and stood up, holding the lapis tightly in his hand.  
  
"Lapis... grant my heart's desire... I wish.... I wish for Shiho to be able to fight for herself, to be her own person, to be able to have friends and be strong..."  
  
He opened his hand, and saw the small gem glow. Startled, he dropped it back into the water.  
  
"No... it was... just my imagination. That could never have... No..."  
  
~  
  
Meanwhile, from above, the goddess Valkyrie was floating over the scene, with a young woman next to her.   
  
"A wish is a wish. So let it be done. Let us go."  
  
Shiho and the Valkyrie then disappeared into nothingness.  
  
The End  
  
The next tale.... Jayle 


End file.
